A/N: This story is a drabble based on a role play done with an Anzu. The character of "Dark" is a version of Yugi who was born from the Orichalcos. This Anzu obtained scars from meeting and trying to fight the dark God Zorc. If you would like to see more information on the character, please visit anzumazaki tumblr .com.

The Return Trip

...

Patient Name: Mazaki, Anzu

"I'm really tired. I don't want to be jet lagged." Anzu explained to Yugi as they sat on the plane, readying themselves to travel across the ocean to the far off land of Egypt.

The boy smiled to her. It was almost forlorn. They were about to tell a person they cherished goodbye. She knew that he did not want to part from the spirit in the puzzle, but he had to move on. There was no other choice for them. "Alright. I'll be right here to wake you up when we arrive." He promised, laying a hand on hers for a moment. Then, it was taken away. No need to make things complicated now, of all times.

The dancer had the dream so many times. Where she had returned back to her spot, sitting next to Yugi while he cradled the puzzle, as if he had just completed it. She dreamt she continued her journey, returning the Pharaoh to his rightful place in the great beyond. Or, whatever the hell it was that he was going to. She just knew she wanted him to stay. She hated the thought of him leaving the group. They had all changed so much because of him.

Suddenly, the plane was ablaze. She awoke to the smell of soot and sea water. She tried to unhook herself, while she searched around for her friends. They were nowhere in sight. No, this was not a normal turn of the dream. She needed to wake up, to find herself back in Dark's arms, safe and sound from the terrors that this nightmare had turned. She wanted to wake up. She heard a creaking above her, and her eyes widened as they shot up, seeing a part of their plane come crashing down on top of her, making everything fade to black.

...

Eyelids slowly peeled open, Anzu's vision was blurred in the bright, white room. This wasn't the same as any room she had woke up in before. Her mind was sluggish, eyes batting away the unclear glaze. No, wait. She had been in a place like this before. A hospital. That's right. This was just like the hospital that she had been brought to when Zorc had ripped her to shreds. What was she doing here now? What happened the night before? There was the small clicking of heels that entered the room, and Anzu turned her head slightly to the noise. Suddenly, a clipboard clattered on the floor as the nurse who approached suddenly screeched out, "Doctor, doctor! Miss Mazaki is awake!" Anzu couldn't understand her excitement.

As the nurse rushed out, Anzu lifted a hand up to try and inspect herself. She winced when the IV in her arm tugged at her skin. Her arms were clear of blemishes, for the most part. She tried to remember the previous night. Dark had taken her to dinner, and they had watched a movie. Nothing out of the ordinary. She couldn't remember any reason she would be in the hospital. Not until she felt the scorching pain in her cheek. She grunted, lifting her fingers to touch her face. She hadn't felt upset, so she didn't understand why her scars were appearing for no reason.

The doctor came rushing to her side. A man in his mid-thirties who kept up well, no facial hair. Rather non-descript, in Anzu's opinion. "No, Miss Mazaki, don't touch there." He grabbed her wrist, placing it back down on the bed, like he would with a child.

The girl stared at him blankly for a moment. His eyes were a luscious shade of green. She tilted her head as she glanced down at her hand. "Why is it bad? I know the gashes are terrible, but really. They're almost healed." She spoke in her matter-of-fact tone.

The doctor glanced up to the nurse, waving his hand at her. "Raise her up so she's sitting. Write down that she's talking too." He barked the orders at the girl who nodded quickly, issuing out his commands as quickly as she could. Anzu straightened up, feeling her whole body feel stiff and sore. She felt like she hadn't moved in ages. "Miss Mazaki." The doctor garnered her attention. "Those aren't gashes. What do you remember?" He asked her, his expression beyond serious.

Anzu batted her eyes before furrowing her brow. "I was on a date with my boyfriend. We ate dinner. Then watched a movie." She tried to look around to see if Dark was anywhere nearby. "Where is he? He must have brought me here." She stated, remaining calm about the whole thing, really. "I must have bumped my head or something…Wait." She stopped, her hues locked on his as she took in his words. "What do you mean these aren't gashes?" She lifted her hand once more to point at her still stinging face.

He pressed his lips together, then turned back to the nurse. "Let the family know she's awake. That boy too. He should be coming back to visit in a few hours anyway." Anzu was starting to dislike how he ignored her. The doctor took in a deep breath, and dodged her question. "Miss Mazaki, do you remember anything about being on a plane?" He asked warily, studying her for any signs of she didn't know what.

Anzu was about to shake her head when the dream surfaced to her mind. It had never turned out that way before, and it was strange to have had it right before she woke up here. "Well, sorta." She answered honestly, his eyes lighting up a bit as she spoke. "That was a few months ago. I was on a plane to Egypt with my friends, but I haven't seen them in a long while." Her eyes shifted downwards as she spoke, and his grip tightened on her arm ever so slightly.

"Miss Mazaki…I don't know how to tell you this, but—"

"Anzu!"

The girl's eyes snapped up to a set of bewildered amethyst hues and spiky hair. His clothes were disheveled and eyes wide with amazement. He looked like he was about to cry from joy. The broken smile that spread across his features perplexed the girl as she tried to figure out exactly who he was. "…Yami?" She decided to stay on the safe side. He was so familiar. There was no way it could have been him. That was impossible.

"You're alive…" He breathed, taking a shaking step forward. He had a limp, which was unusual. The man stared at him before releasing her hand. Instead, the spirit came closer, scooping up Anzu's hand and holding it to his lips. "You're actually alive."

The doctor placed a hand on Yami's shoulder as he rose up, moving his way towards the door. "Son, you better tell her." Anzu frowned that cryptic words and at Yami's reaction to her in the bed. In fact, it was making her rather upset as the man who had taken care of her walked out of the room, leaving the two of them alone.

Anzu met his expression with one of annoyance. "Well, someone better tell me what's going on." Her voice was void of cheer. She wanted out of this place and to find Dark, as soon as possible.

Yami swallowed back his emotions, sitting down in a chair beside her bed without even bothering to look back at it. He had practically known where it was, and possibly used it many times. He took a deep breath, refusing to meet her hues now. "Anzu…I don't know how to tell you this…" He muttered, lowering her hand down as he kept a hold of it. It was warm, and made her heart beat quicken just the slightest. It unfortunately was announced on the monitor. His eyes shot up to it, but then dismissed the skipping beat. "But…" He pursed his lips. "You've been in a coma for about seven months. You were pronounced brain dead about five months ago."

Anzu gave him the blank stare she had given the doctor. Then, a smile tugged at her lips as she started to laugh. "Oh, that's morbid, Yami." She chuckled, waving her free hand as he looked at her incredulously. "But, funny. Seriously. Where's Dark and everyone else who's pulling this prank on me?" She asked, but the smile was fading on her features as his eyes turned icy.

"The others are…Gone, Anzu." He spoke in a dead tone. Suddenly, the humor of it all was dried up. She shook her head in disbelief.

"That's…That's not true. You're lying. Ha, ha."

His free hand clenched into a fist, balling up on top of his knee. "Anzu, why do you think I'm here talking to you instead of Yugi? If he was here he'd—" There was a choked sound that came from his throat. "I've been pretending…Acting like I'm him." He admitted, his shoulders slumping as he remembered his partner. The true owner of the body. Her gaze lingered on him, dumbfounded. She wasn't able to make the connection.

"Where…Where is he then?" She asked, innocence touching her voice. She thought she sounded like a child who did not know why her father was not around anymore.

Yami stared at her, not impatiently, but knowing that she was not going to understand. It was barely a miracle she was even talking to him, and he knew it. "On the day you went to Egypt…The plane was struck by lightning and crashed. Everyone…" He tried to force the words out. "Everyone died on that plane, except for you." His sharp optics narrowed on her. "I managed to take over when Yugi passed…" He looked away once more. "You were already unconscious, but we made it away from the wreck…It took them a few hours to save us." His guilt bled through his words.

Anzu's gaze left his face as stared down at her legs. Her head ached from the thought of losing her friends. She couldn't remember what happened after the block had landed on her. "Honda, Jounouchi, and Yugi…They're gone?" She whispered, her fingers rising back up to her face. "What…What happened to my cheek and neck?" She asked after a moment, her vision not focused on anything in particular.

Yami used his curled up fist to bring her other hand down as he leaned in front of her. "You were…Severally burned and sliced by the wreckage." He spoke calmly, trying not to cause her panic. "They did the best they could, but you still have scars." He released her hand and placed his fingers on her good cheek. He tilted close to her, pulling her sapphire hues to his amethyst. "Anzu, don't let them get you down. You're still beautiful. You're alive." He breathed with sincerity. It made her smile just the slightest. It was like Dark was here.

Dark. If she was back in her own world, where was Dark at? She slid her legs to the side, throwing them off the side of the bed to try and stand up. "I have to tell Dark what happened." She spoke in a rushed voice, the IV stand following her as she landed on her feet, much to Yami's surprise. But then, her atrophied legs gave way to the dancer, causing her to crash on the floor.

"Anzu, are you alright?" He questioned, lifting her up.

She shook her head. "I need to find Dark." She reported, not bothering to look at him.

"Who is that?" He questioned, finally gathering her attention as he tried to get her back onto the bed. She looked at him with a puzzled expression, her mouth gapping as she tried to find the word.

"My boyfriend."

Yami stared at her for a moment, placing both hands on either side of her arms. He took a long, deep breath. "There is no one we know by that name, Anzu."

...

After a few weeks of therapy, the dancer was back on her feet. She was restricted in her movements, but she could at least walk. She was relieved from her dance practices with her reluctant acceptance. What good was a dancer that couldn't perform even the most simplest of steps? She still attended class, but she was no longer viewed the same way. People were happy she had lived. Yet, she heard the darker side of their whispers. Why had she survived. Why not anyone else? Not like the people whom didn't make it mattered.

The only one she could find solace in was Yami. He would walk with her, talking about games and random nonsense to get her mind away from school. She had told him about all of her adventures: Facing Zorc, learning magic, meeting so many versions of the same people. He never believed her when she insisted that it was real. He always gave her the same answer. "It's a possibility, but I saw you lying there in that bed every day." He had watched over her while she was trapped inside her own head.

When she had told him she had met and dated a Yugi briefly, his smile was thin. "I thought you two would hit it off." He commented offhanded.

Anzu shrugged, seating herself against the wall where they went away to hide from prying eyes. "He ended up leaving me." She smiled gently, her skin tight against the expression. Her burns were worse than the gashes, and never went away. She had taken to wearing a sick mask, but sometimes that didn't even do the job to hide herself away.

"Who was Dark?" He asked, his arms crossed over his chest. The tone was stoic, but she could tell it meant something different to him. She chalked it up to the fact that it was the first person she tried to find when she came back to this world—No, when she woke up.

A sigh escaped her lips. "A wonderful man. He was…" She looked up, almost able to see him in the air. "He was made from the magic of the Orichalcos. But, he loved me. He looked a lot like Yugi. Only…He had such beautiful green eyes and hair…" She could feel tears rushing down her cheeks as she thought of him. Her heart ached every time she thought about him. She shut her eyes, rising up her hands to cover her eyes as she sobbed silently. The pain refused to go away, and her love for him would not leave her heart.

Arms wrapped around her shaking frame as Yami pulled her close to him, stroking her hair softly as he tried to coax her back to a calmer state. "Shh, Anzu." He whispered her name, pulling his head back to inspect her. A hand rose up to peel away the fingers that hid her face from him. Salt water stained her cheeks, as her glistening eyes were filled with lonely sadness. For that moment, Yami felt very much like his old partner, and did the one thing the deceased had always wanted. He pressed his lips to hers, taking in the bitter tears and tender lips all at once.

...

It had been a few weeks since Anzu had woken up from her dreams. Yami had decided it would be good for the two of them to go to dance lessons once a week. It was simple steps for older people, and Anzu enjoyed her time. His hand would nestle against her hip, while she held on to his shoulders. As much as Anzu craved hormonal desires, she and Yami were almost too awkward to go to that point. Her broken body also proved to be a hindrance at times.

There was also the fact that no matter how hard he tried, Yami could not make her forget. There were times when he would swing her out, then pull her close to him, she would have to resist giggling out Dark's name. Anzu started to become more and more withdrawn in herself the harder he tried to get her to open up. She had yearned to have the man hold her and want her. He was the one who had saved her, her dark knight.

Even now, she felt herself falling further and further back into the pit inside of herself every time his lips collided with hers. She felt dirty, and couldn't wash herself clean.

It was only a month or so before she was able to return to dance classes, and to start fresh with her legs. Yet, her dream to move to New York was dying. There were other places she would rather go. She found the only way she could gather any strength during her dance was to imagine that they were watching her from afar.

...

Anzu celebrated her eighteenth birthday with her mother and Yami. Her father was still missing in action, but the girl didn't mind. He had never really been there in the first place. She had gotten her own car and a special present from Yami. He was after all, now someone she cared about in her life and according to her family, her boyfriend.

She found it to never be quite the same. Nothing ever felt right. She was just going through the motions, living her life like anyone normally would. She tried her best to forget about the dream she had, and move on with her life.

"Do you ever have nightmares about that night?" She asked him as they lay in bed together, the twin sized mattress at the game shop keeping them close together. She didn't mind it all of the time. Her fingers played along his exposed collarbone, his hues on her.

He shook his head, running his finger through her hair, just as he always did when he could tell her nerves were rising. "No. I don't." He admitted plainly, lifting her chin to look at him. "But then again, I don't get much sleep these days." His smile was playful, but her expression clearly did not express the same humor he was expecting. "Do you?" He finally asked, realizing that she might be upset.

She shook her head. "No. But, I used to. I used to dream of it when I was in the dream." She had to keep calling it that. She couldn't name what it actually was. Not a soul believed her. "Yugi once professed his love for me." She shrugged off the statement, but his arms wrapped around her, to comfort her.

"He did for a long time." He admitted against her bare shoulder, lips brushing against the soft skin. "But, you know my feelings for you." He had told her once before, but the words never came from her own lips. He swore he would never say it again until she issued it first. He continued to wait, sometimes leading her on like he was now. However, he was given her simple answer, just like always.

"You know how I feel."

...

Anzu would have the occasional dream of sunlight and flowers, but she could never seem to peer back into the world she had left. Fall was already on the Mazaki household, and the girl still had school, even when Yami had accepted Yugi's diploma in his place. He would come over and visit her, occasionally staying the night. Anzu couldn't help but wonder sometimes if her mother on the other side would have been so accepting of Dark if they were an average couple with no sex drive at first.

It didn't matter these days, did it?

She had started to go to more practices, bringing her schedule back up to par for what it once was. She was nowhere close to New York yet. The hospital had drained too many of the household funds and with her mutilated face, she was not going to get scholarship anytime soon. The skin had started to heal, and she was growing accustom to a normal life, even with taking her medication to ensure her pain did not course through her body. School, practice, dinner, boyfriend time, sleep. Repeat.

It was not until one night that in her slumber, she remembered the day of the crash. Flames licked up her skin, and she knew she was about to be crushed. She tried to call out for Yami's name, but her voice was gone. She let out a scream, her hands moving above her head as she braced herself.

Then, she was in a white room, much like the hospital she had woken up in. Her hues searched the room for any sort of person, and landed on a far too familiar figure. Wide, emerald eyes gleamed at her with surprise. His dark green spikes were unchanged. Her heart lurched in her chest as her hand moved to cover her mouth. "It can't be…" She whispered, her sound returning to her. Tears dripped off her cheeks as she watched him. He lifted his hands, his mouth moving. However, she could not hear any of his words. She was stunned, standing there while tears hit the floor.

Anzu took slow steps closer, her hand reaching out towards him. "Dark…" She uttered his name, before racing towards him. The barrier between them broke, she leaping into his arms as she held him close. "Dark! Dark!" She exclaimed his name as he squeezed her tightly.

"Anzu, I've been looking everywhere." He breathed into her ear. "I've missed you so much."

"I love you, Dark." She sobbed into his shirt. She could feel the burns evaporating from her face, allowing her creamy skin to fuse back to it's silky softness. She was home again.

"Oh god—An—Wake—Anzu!" Another voice echoed around them, vibrating the floor beneath the couple. Their grips slipped on each other, the girl unable to hold onto him as the vision vanished, the dancer feeling her body sucked upwards away from the brightness of the room.

...

Her eyes opened to two men hovering over her in an ambulance. "She's waking up." One of them reported to someone Anzu couldn't see. Yami pushed his way to her side, grasping her hand tightly as his eyes welled with concern.

"Anzu, why did you take too many of your pills? You overdosed." He spluttered the words, holding her hand to his forehead. "Thank god I was coming over tonight." He sighed, pressing his lips to her hand.

She tried so hard to remember taking the excessive amount of medication and couldn't recall. She shook her head. "I saw….I saw Dark." She murmured instead, the small smile lingering on her lips as she turned her head from Yami.

He shook his head. "That was just a dream, dear. It wasn't anything." He persisted.

But, she knew. She knew how real that touch had been. She knew she had seen him again.

...

Anzu tried for weeks to dream of Dark again, but to no avail. She could not even attempt a few more pills before bed, due to Yami becoming over protective of her. She could understand why. Not only had she lost all of her friends, he had lost his as well. She was the only thing left, until he found someone new to send him to the beyond.

She tried to talk to Yami about what had happened that night, but he refused to speak about it. He would dismiss it with, "Anzu, you're alive. Can't you be happy about that?" It made her wonder if she had another brush with death.

It was starting to grow to be too much. The mundane life. She had a glimpse of what she once had, and nearly had it in her hands again. While she sat in school, she thought about her adventures once more, trying to remember everything she could. All of the scars she acquired on her body in this existence, she found were mimicked in the dream world. The final piece came to her when her mother decided it was time for the girl to write a Will. "Anzu, you've been declared dead twice. Will you please make sure everything is in order?" It was that one part that Yami had left out. While she had her stomach pumped, the doctor had declared her dead for three minutes. Another miracle had occurred.

That afternoon, when Anzu came back from school, she called into her house to see if anyone was home. For once in a long while, the broken dancer was left to her own devices in the house. She slipped off her shoes, and moved to the center floorboard in the hall way. Getting down on her knees to pry up the wood, she found a silver handgun beneath the panel. She lifted it up, glancing around to ensure no one could see her. She tiptoed to the kitchen, snatching up a towel before racing up to her room.

She sat on her bed, contemplating how she could do it. If she went in through the side or the front, the hole would still be there. The only way she could see herself healing was if it was on the inside. She wiped off the dust, opening her mouth as she slid the tip of the barrel just past her teeth.

Yami opened the door to her room, a bag of food picked out for the girl. Horror spread across his face as he saw the illegal weapon and dropped everything he held. "Anzu, don't!" He cried out,arms reaching out for her, while her eyes were already shut, determined.

Click

...

A/N: Thank you for reading! I hope to be posting up more soon!